A brief-yet-ongoing journal of all things Carmi. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll reach for your mouse to click back to Google. But you'll be intrigued. And you'll feel compelled to return following your next bowl of oatmeal. With brown sugar. And milk.

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Monday, April 26, 2010

Off the grid? Or on?

Power to the peopleToronto, ON, December 2009

Every waking moment of every day presents us with two possible paths. Either we choose to follow the herd and accept the endlessly routine sameness of the world around us. Or we choose to look for the wonder within all that sameness. I like to think of it as forming our own herd. I also like to focus on the concept of choice. All of us have it, but sadly not all of us exercise it with any degree of frequency. Pity that.

As my wife has so painfully learned over the years, I'm a choose-the-wonder kind of guy. This likely explains how, when I arrived for a video shoot a bit earlier than expected, I found myself in a downtown Toronto back alley staring at a questionably connected set of wires. Not that I'm an expert in any of this, of course, but I still felt more than a little chilled at the haphazard look of it all.

My fears aside, I thought it made for a pretty neat composition as the late-winter's-afternoon light cast long shadows that threw the moment into stark relief. Not everything needs an answer, after all. Sometimes, I think it's worth shooting simply because it looks neat.

4 comments:

behind this building? on one side is "my" yard - filled with a garden and pretty flowers and a wonderful swimming pool. and then there is "hubby's" yard - filled with trailers and boats and misc items that "might come in handy some day." we're a fun couple.

Nice shot! Actually, as I started my 365 project it changed a little bit my perception of reality. Started to look around more, notice more and really have fun from simple things which I did not cared before.

I'm all about shooting the "back side of the building", so you gotta know I love this! But to answer your question I guess I'd have to figure out what is considered the "back" of my office building. I suppose the loading dock.

Sometimes you find incredible things just by walking around to the other side. Not so long ago, I discovered some utterly amazing graffiti murals on the back side of a building I drive by every day. The building itself is nothing to look at from the front. But the back has a whole story to tell. Several of them in fact.